Electric suction cleaner



H. E HOOVER ELECTRIC SUGTION CLEANER June '9,1 1925.`

2 Sheets-Sheet .l

,Filed Feb. 24,- 1921 l Wzjm/SJS H.' E. HOOVER 4- v"rnmsu'cytTR'IcscTJoN LEANER Filed Feb. 24 1921 j 2 sheetysheet '2 @Me/37% Cata.

.Patented June 9, 19,215. t

:UNITED v'siA'rl-:s

'PATENT orricla.;

HOWARD HOOVER., OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNOR, `EY MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS,

To THEHOOVER COMPANY, OE NOE-'rn CANTON, OHIO, 'A CORPORATION OE OHIO. t

ELECTRIC SUCTIONCLEANER.

Application filed Februaryv 24, 1921. Serial No. 447,589.

To all whom t may concern: l Be it known that I, HOWARD EARL HOOVER, aCitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand Stateof Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Electric Suction Cleaners7 of which the following is a speci?fication.I v

My invention relates .to electric suction cleaners, particularly such ascontain in connection with the-nozzle a brush and av motorA adapted torotatefwthe brush, andV y guard fingers, and my inveii'on particularlyrelates to the guard finger-s. It forms in parta continuation ofmy'pendingUnited States applications Serial Number 185,201, filedAugustS, 1917, and Ser. No. 265,350 filed Dec. 5,1918. l' Y In such amachine it is desirable that the brush should pick up and throw into thesuction chamber toward the fan the surface litter such as hair, threads,ravelings and the like, and it is desirable that suchlitter should notadhere toor remain in or on the brush. The'fingers are necessary to keepthe floor covering from being drawn too far into the suction chamber.Such guard fingers are, however, likely to have various objections. Ifthey are short theyr not infrequently catch on the loops or threadswhich form part of the floor covering and which are drawn up into thesuction `chamber by the movement of air, Which is due to the fact thatthe machine is being moved back F and forth by the operator during theoperationof sucking up the dust laden air. Such fingers may also if theyare too long or pro-ject too far' in towthe` suction Achamber tend toarrest or aid in thearrestof the inwardly moving litter ofthe'classreferred to which may tend to fall out of the streaml of airwithwvhich it is moving upon thel inne'r lower Wall of the. casingadjacent-thc ends of the brush. fngcrs. .Theifinge'rsif notproperly'shaped Wil1-notsufiiciently aid in preventing the adhesion ofsuch surface litter to the brush. The fingersshould preferably be ofsuch length as to deliver the litter in question into the stream of dustand litter laden air and at exactly the point Where that delivery ismade the brush should svveep the ends of`the-fingers so'as to free suchmaterial from the brush and lingers to facilitate its delivery into thelair stream. the arrangement were such that the brush.

occasionally'v reversed its motion then -the fingers should be projectedabove this air stream so as to prevent the ,catching ofA -air stream inwhich event they will b e so long and extend so far into the suctionchamber that theyvcnuld not Well engage the A loops and threads of thefloor covering.

Under all these conditions the best possible arrangement ofthe fingersis that their ends are swept bythe brush( The object of my inventiontherefore is to associate such brusli with fingers in such Way as tofacilitate the clearing of the brush and the delivery of all such litterfrom the fingers to the air stream, and for the prevention of theentanglement of the ends ofthe fingers with the loops. threads and othersuch loose pieces of the floor covering as may be' drawn up into thesuction chamber by the action of the air stream. Another object of myinvention is to provide U-shaped 4fingers and means for properlyconnecting them. I

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a part vertical section andpart side elevation of a suction cleaner containing my invention.

Figure 2 is a. detailed view showing the arrangement of the- U-shapedfingers.

i. Figure 3 is a detail of one means of attaching them.

Likeparts are indicated by like characters throughout'all the drawings.

A is a suction sweeper casing having 'mounted-and secured to it, a motorcasing B.

C is a handle -bail pivoted to the 'sweeper casing and having in itsupper end, the handle shaft C. C2 is a handle bail stop adapted whenin-the position shown in full lines.

invention and are not described inv great detail. The suction sweepercasing has the forwardly and downwardly extending open.suctionmcuth'D'across which are xed 'the guard fingers D. They may bemounted therein-in 'any suitable manner as for eirample in the frame D2which may or may not be removable fro-m the suction sweeper casing orthey may be shaped in joined U- shaped pairs as shown in Figures 2 and 3and may be positioned in the suction sweeper by being inserted throughperforations D3 'in the wallof the casing. When so mounted, they aresecured in position -by means of the screws D4. The side of the U-shapedinember may or may not be fiattened as at D5 for. better engagement withthe screw D4.

In all forms, the fingers are substantially i concentric with the pathof thebrush and are -so positioned as to be swept from end to end by thebristles during each revolution of the brush, the brush revolving in thedirection of the' free ends of the fingers so as to brush ofinl thelingers anything which may In the form shown in full lines'in Figure 1the guard fingers are curved concentric with the path l of the brush andextend toward but are short of the rear wall of the suction nozzle mouthD. The fingers may, however, be made longer as indicated in dotted linesin Figure 1 bythe characters E and F. In these forms, 'the fingers areextended upward and out of the path of the dust laden current of air sothat it is practically impossible for anything to become entangled withor caught upon the fingers.` All ofvthese three forms are similar inthat they are all concentric with the path of the lbristles and are allswept by the bristles, and in each of them the end ofthe guard fingersis out of contact with the rear wall of the suction nozzle. Within thesweeper casing and protruding partially i through the opening D is the'brush G which l is formed of a hollowT brush body in which yare locateda series of bristle bunches G. The brush itself is mounted for rotationabout the stationary shaft G2 and carries upon its exterior a beltpulley G3 adapted to -be drivenby the. belt G4 which in turn is drivenby the driving pulley G5 on the lower "extension of the motor shaft H.The brush is mounted adjustably in the mechanism I,

vwhich forms no part of the present invenare of such height that' -they4"hold the nozzle of thecasing above the floor'. At the rear of thecasing is mounted .a pair of wheels J which are 'justable in height sothat the nozzleof the easing may be raised andy lowered with relation tothe floor by means Vof the-,adjustment of thewheels J'.;

' In operation, the suction of the machine draws thel carpet K off 'thefloor and up against `and partially into lthe nozzle in the .ri-,541,ser

" whereA it may be received by any suitable re-l ceptacle.

The use andcperation of as follows:

In the Vsuction cleaners ofthe class here y e L y invention are there isfound a motor and-a rotarybrush illustrated, as they are ordinarilymade,

driven by the motor ata relatively high rate of speed normallycontinuously in the same direction. This brush sweeps up and carriesinto the machine .the litter, hair, threads, and the like which may beon the floor. The cleaner preferably has a relatively wide nozzle orinlet and the carpet responsive to the action of the suctonof thecurrent of air passingr through the 1nachine rises to the lips of thenozzle as the cleaneris moved back and forth across the floor. Toprevent it'fromv passing too far into the nozzle or from interferingwith the;

action of the brush and to insure a proper relation between brush andcarpet or floor covering guard fingers arc provided. These arepreferably fixed at the front edge of the nozzle and -extend rearwardly,and in the form here shown they are preferably curved, aracticallythroughout their length and concentric with the brush. They also l liein the path of the ends of the bristles so as preferably to be sweptthroughout their lengths by such bristles. They are preferably providedwith curved ends which also lie in the path of the britles and areswept" by them. These fingers may be of any desired length. They extendacross the nozzle in the direction of rotation of the brush and theirAfree ends are therefore within the suction chamber. The fingers beingconcentric with the brush are obviously upwardly bent awa-y from thecasing so as to leave a relatively wide gap between fthe rear edge ofthe nozzle and the ends 0f the fingers. As the machine operates thebrush sweeps the fingers i preferably from end to end and particularlyit sweeps the ends of the fingers. It must be 'understoo'd that in theoperation of such a cleaner it is moved rapidly back'and forth over thefloor covering and across-the edges and fringes thereof, and'that thereis a strong tendency for-the loose loops, thread ends and the like of'such fioorrcovering to pass up into the casing. Many of these are inthe shape of loops and -said loops frequently lcatch over the ends ofthe fingers, i if the latter are Anot properlyl formed, shaped, orprotected with the result that Cil the'action of the machine isinterfered with and the floor-covering is injured. By sweeping the endsof the fingers with the brush not intended `to project far down intothev nap of the carpet and the guard fingers prevent the carpet fromrising too high, butv the brush sweeps up the litter referredto and thefingers tend to prevent such litter from adhering to the brush andproceeding with the brush in its rotative movement.

The brush sweeping the fingers prevents the.

litter in question from adheringto the fingers and thus the co-action ofthe brush and fingers is carried on -effectually each .tending to clearthe other of the surface litter which it is so 'necessary todeliver'free from the brush and fingers into the suction chamber. Asabove indicated these several actions are facilitated when the fingersare concentric, when they, lie within the path of the bristles, whentheir free ends at least are in the path of the bristles and preferablycurved, and when the' brush rotates continuously in the same directionso as to sweep the fingers from their inner fixed towardtheir free ends.The fingers must 'be free from the rear -lip of thecasing nozzle so asto permit the litter' in question and match sticks and the like topassinto thesuction chamber between the rear lipA ofthe nozzle and theguard fingers.' The litter, along with the current of air entering themachine, lies largely or moves to a great extent in a plane whichisabove the inner surface `of the rear lip, that -is to say there is astream of dirt and litter and dust laden-air atv this point andthefingers preferably extend so as to deliver froml their free ends theobject which passes along the fingers into suchl stream. If, however,for any reason, the

brush is to be reversible or adapted /to ro-l tate alternately inopposite directions, then the innerends of the fingers should be'carried higher up so as to be practicallyv out- ,X side of suc'ih streamso that in the event of the brush rotating in a direction opposite tothe flow of current of air and litter there will be no opportunityvforthe ends .of the fingers to intercept" or pick up material in the airstream. Indeed, forsome purposes l with respect to certain kindsvofmaterial, it

may be preferable to have'the fingers ex-v tended well up into thesuction chamber'and beyond the upper dust and dirt laden stream even incases where the brush rotates toward the free ends of the fingers.

It will be understood that the drawings are intended `merely as anillustration of one form of the invention, for the device illustratedand' described might be altered' and changed considerably .withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. In

the preferred form of myinvention as it,

now appears the brush rotates continuously in the same direction at arelatively high speed, and wherein the fingers are' conce'ntricthroughout the greater portion of their lengths and lie slightly withinthe brush bristles so that they ,are swept by the brush, for the fingersprotect the brush from the,

ladhesion of the class of 'surface litter referred to and the' brushprotects the fingers bysweeping such litter from them into thestream ofair. Itis importan-t that whatever the shape ofthe' finger, generallyspeaking, its ends should extend into -the bristles andbe swept by thebrush.

Another form 'of the invention is that wherein the fingers are extendedbeyond the streamof litter laden air so as to deliver the dust ladenair.v

While I have stated that the brush mounting revolves always in the lsamedirection, in certain circumstances the direction of its rotation mightbe reversed, and I do not wish to be limited to a construction whereinthe-brush is driven always in the same direction.

'I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a suction nozzle, a brush rotatably mountedtherein, a. plurality` of guard fingers `extending across the open mouthof the nozzle, said fingers be- Jing arranged in pairs, each pair beingjoined together at one side by a part perpendicular` to each of them, asupporting y' member having perforations through which each fingerseparately passes and means located between such lingers for holdingeach pair in position.

2.' A brush guardv for suction cleanervnozzles comprising-a plurality ofU-shaped fingers each separately mounted in the hood and means forpermanently fastening each finger in position independent of the others.

3. 'A brush guard for suction cleaner nozzles comprising a`plurality ofU-shaped fingers each separately mounted in the hood.

'4. A brush guard for suction cleaner nozzles comprising a plurality ofpairs of joined fingers each pair being separately .mounted in the hood,vmeans for permanently. fastening each pair in position, inde.

pendent of the other7 and means for holding the fingers in placecomprising a member engaging the connecting part intermediate thefingers.

5. In a suction cleaner a suction nozzle having a plurality ofperforations adjacent,

the open mouth -of the nozzle, a plurality ofbrush guard fingersextending through said perforations and extending across the nozzle,said fingers being arranged in pairs, means for fastening each pair offingers independently in position, said means comcontinuously in thesame dir ection and guard fingers which are fixed at one end and free atthe otherand projecting across the nozzle in the direction of therotation of the brush and concentric throughout the major portion oftheir` lengths with the brush and whose free ends lie in the path of thebristles so as to be swept thereby.

7. 'Ilia suction cleaner, the combination of a caslng having an inletnozzle with a brush mounted adjacent said nozzle, means for rotating'thebrush continuously in the same direction and guard fingers which arefixed at one end and free at the other projecting across the nozzle inthe direction of rotation Aof the .brush and concentric throughout themajor portion of their lengths with the brush and whose free ends lie inthe path of the bristles so as to be swept thereby.

8. In a suction cleaner,vthe combination of `a casing havin an inletnozzle with a brush mounted adjacent said nozzle, means for rotating thebrush and guard fingers which are fixed at one end and Vfree at theother projecting transversely of the nozzle and concentric throughoutthe major portion of their lengths with the brush and whose free endslie in. thev path `of its bristles so as to be swept thereby.

j 9. In'a suction cleaner, the combination of acasing havin an inletnozzle with a brush mounted adjacent said nozzle, means for rotating thebrush, and guard fingers fixed at one end and free at the otherprojecting transversely of the nozzle, and whose free ends lie in thepath or" the brush bristles so as to be swept thereby.

10. In a suction cleaner, the combination fof a .casing having an inletnozzle with a brush mounted adjacent said nozzle, means for rotating thebrush continuously in the same direction and guard fingers which arefixed at one end and free at, the other projecting transversely of thenozzle in the direct-ion of the rotation of the brush and whose free.ends liein the path of' the brush bristles so as to be swept thereby.

11.. In a suction cleaner, the combina-tion of a casing having anin'letnozzle with a brush mounted adjacentsaid nozzle, means for rotatingthebrush ycontinuously in the same direction, and guard fingers whichare fixed at one end and free at the other projecting transversely ofthe nozzle in the direction ofv the rotation of the brush and havingcurved freeends which lie in the path of the bristles of the brush so asto be swept thereby.

12. In Va suction cleaner, the combination of a casing having an inletnozzle with a brush ymounted adjacent said nozzle; means for rotatingthe'brush continuously in -the same direction and guard fingers whichare fixed at one end and free at the other pr ojecting transversely ofthe nozzle in the direction of the rotation of the brush and concentricthroughout the major portion ofi their lengths with the brush and whosefree ends lie 1n the path of its bristles so as to be swept thereby. v

Signed at Chicago county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 23rd day ofFebruary,

A'HOWARD EARL HOOVER.

